Stuff I'm (Thinking of) Running This Fall

My latest email to my coach, summarized:

• Hey! Remember me? Not dead yet! :D
• 8 week running break = the best
• Running again! Not the worst!
• Marathons = yyyyyeah I'm good for a while I think.
• Short, fast stuff = BRING IT!
• What should I run between now & Christmas??????

{/end communicae}

Basically what I want to do for the next give or take year is just focus on racing short, fast stuff, getting some speed back again, & having fun. Maybe some PRs will fall, maybe they won't, but I really want to get back to racing more than once a quarter, and the way you do that is by racing stuff that doesn't take multiple months to train for & multiple weeks to recover from. I also don't want to spend a bunch of time driving super far, so it's all about what is close to home. (And, rest assured, there is *plenty*.)

My plan is basically to build three seasons--

• Fall (short road races, some cross country, peak late November to early December, then take a little break around the holidays)
• Spring (moar short road races, some track meets, peak April-ish, then take a little break)
• Summer (who even knows, that is so far from now! But currently every weekend is #FOMO in my social mediaz, so I have *plenty* of ideas for stuff I'd like to race around this time next year)

The final schedule for this fall is still up in the air, but the short list is:

• 9/2 - Race to the End of Summer 10K (San Jose). Yes, it can be hot, but I like this race. It's not that far and well-organized and a pretty solid course oh and also CHEAP. And did I mention it's $7 cheaper (5K, 10K, or half) with promo code AK2018?? HAVE I MENTIONED IT????
• 9/9 - Golden Gate Park Open 6K (San Francisco). This is a Pacific Association Grand Prix XC race & would be my first cross country race in {mumblesincoherently} years. The course is only a few miles from home so it would be a nice way to dip my toes back into the world of running on grass & see if it's something I want to do a lot more of.
• 9/16 - Alameda Running Festival 5K or 10K (Alameda).
• 9/22 - Garin Park XC Challenge 5K (Hayward) - Another PA Grand Prix race, not TOO-too far from home.
• 9/30 - John Lawson Tamalpa Challenge 4.25 miles (San Rafael) - Another PA Grand Prix race, also not too terribly far, and I'm intrigued by the idea of running something more or less halfway between a 5K & 10K.
• 10/7 - Rock 'N Roll San Jose Half (San Jose). The only double digit race I'll be doing in the foreseeable future, because I signed up last year for the super cheap (well...cheap as RNR races go...) "re-run" deal.
• 10/20 - Matt Yeo Memorial Aggies XC Open 4.2 miles (Martinez) - Another PA Grand Prix race, a good hour a way so it's lower down on the list
• 10/27 - Excelsior Challenge 5K (Brisbane). Another PA Grand Prix race, SUPER close to home
• 10/28 - OktobeRun 5K (Redwood City). Maybe I'll wear a costume?!?!?
• 11/18 - Pacific Association XC Championships 4 miles (San Francisco). I mean. It's in Golden Gate Park, soooo....
• 11/22 - Oakland Turkey Trot 5K (Oakland). Can you believe I've never run a Turkey Trot? Not even kidding.
• 12/9 - Santa Skivvies 2K (San Francisco). This is more of a goofy fun charity run, but it's short, ridiculous, and starts about a mile from my house. I accidentally ran through it last year & was like, "OK why am I not racing this."
• 12/16 - Silicon Valley Santa Run 5K (San Jose). I'm into holiday-themed races this year, if you couldn't tell.

Of course there's no way I'll get to all of these, but it was an interesting exercise to flip through the local race calendars & see what's going on around here in the world of short-course racing. Certainly plenty of viable options & I'm excited to finally (FINALLY!) actually finish a 5K sometime soon.